RED SPARROW ***
Dir: Francis Lawrence (15, 139 mins)
In what seems like a virtual retread of the Black Widow storyline and character from the Marvel comics, this spy thriller has Jennifer Lawrence donning a Russian accent and becoming a seductress for secrets. Based on the book by Jason Matthews, Lawrence plays Dominika Egrova, a ballerina, recruited into a Russian intelligence service called the ‘Sparrow School’, where her charms and attributes are exploited, catering more for espionage than the concert hall. Initially a role she takes on to pay for her mother’s health care, matters soon become deadly as she witnesses a murder and is offered a stark choice: become an operative for the Russians or be killed. Charged with seducing a CIA operative, Joel Edgerton, and learning his governmental secrets, the pair naturally fall for each other. Will she escape the fate offered up to her with Edgerton’s help or not? It’s a spy thriller treading well-worn territory but, with the classy Lawrence at its centre, stands a chance of being something more. Charlotte Rampling provides ice-cold instruction as her trainer as does Jeremy Irons, in a thriller that apparently plays with the cost of spying, along with all the regular action bits, revealing swimsuits and sex scenes.
Opens Mar 1
